Lost Summer : Open House

I was late getting to the meeting. It’s a bit of a haul to get back to New Orleans from Venice after all. Not knowing what to expect, I was simply hoping to make it to The Pavilion of the Two Sisters at City Park before the meeting broke up.

Another photographer was walking out as I hustled in the door. “You didn’t miss much,” he said, “it’s pretty boring.” At that point I slowed my roll and caught my breath.

When I finally wandered into the main room, I walked smack into a confrontation. A New Orleans resident named Elizabeth Cook was in a heated exchange with U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Roger Laferriere, the Coast Guard Incident Commander in Houma.

The event was designed so residents could get one-on-one contact with BP and government officials through a series of ‘open houses’ held across the region. “We want to communicate with the public and provide them with first-hand information on the topics that concern them most,” Laferriere said in a statement announcing the meeting.

But Cook wasn’t impressed when Laferriere, according to Cook, said there had been no evidence of massive fish kills. “I could not believe my ears,” she said, “how can you not challenge them? I don’t appreciate them coming here and lying.”

The exchange, while limited, underscored the tension and emotion apparent between some in the public and the agencies involved in the response.